Table 1.

Summary of the main characteristics of virological tools used for simplified diagnosis strategies

	HCV RNA using NAAT	HCV RNA using DBS	HCV RNA POCT	HCV c Ag
Analytical performances	Excellent sensitivity <25 IU/ml	Should only be used as a qualitative result	Expected to be excellent. Need to be determined in real life settings	Equivalent to 500 to 3000 IU/ml, according to the HCV genotype
Target population	Centralized settings” High income countries	Lack of access to sites or nearby laboratory facilities for NAAT Persons with poor venous access (e.g. in drug treatment programs, prisons).	Lack of access to sites or nearby laboratory facilities for NAAT if using fingerstick: Persons with poor venous access (e.g. in drug treatment programs, prisons).	Centralized settings Low and middle income countries
Specimen type	Serum/plasma requires venipuncture to obtain specimen	Fingerstick capillary whole blood samples	Whole blood samples but more data are warranted	Serum requires venipuncture to obtain specimen. Whole blood from DBS but sensitivity is poor
Time of result	Time to result: several hours/days and generally batched as one run	Several days	<120 min	<60 min
Laboratory infrastructure	Requires trained laboratory technician Requires laboratory facilities and equipment	Can be performed in decentralized settings	Can be performed in decentralized settings	Requires laboratory facilities and equipment
Standardization		Need for development of standardized protocols by manufacturers

NAAT, nucleic acid amplification technologies; POC, point‐of‐care; HCV cAg , HCV core antigen.